Drag conveyer



Dec. 25, 1934 a. BEARDSLEY DRAG CONVEYER Filed Aug. 12, 1951 Has FIG.6

FIG. 8

INVENTOR B. BEARDSLEY Patented Dec. 25, 1934 i1 UNITED STATES! DRAG coNvErEn at Bruce Beardsley, Brooklyn, N. Y.,' assigpoft Th Western Union Telegraph Company; New York,

N. Y.', a corporation of- New York 1x 1931, s an-g 556,64 Claims. (Cl.'198--160)' in. connection with conveyer systems employed in district or relay ofiices of commercial communication concerns where messages which are received in one part of the building may have to v be transferred to another part of the building to be sent out over the proper communication channel; The conveyer systems are employed incollecting the messages and routing the same to the proper part of the building for dispatching over thecommunication channel. Dragtype conveyers'have been used quite extensively in such con.- veyer; systems. v

As heretofore constructed drag type conveyers tor conveying sheet material have employed a channel member of relatively less width than the width of the sheets of material tobe conveyed and a conveyer belt'arranged totravel in'said channel. The belt is ordinarily of less width than the channel so that the channel member has lateralportions of substantial width which extend beyond the edge of the conveyer belt. According to,,my presentinvention; I propose to employ a conveyer support or channel for the conveyer beltlwhich has a width substantially equal to the width of the belt. With this arrangement the supporting member can be made lighter and will beless expensive than the type of support channel member which extends outbeyond the edges of the belt. I have found thatthistype of support williunction effectively as a conveyer channel if means are provided for properly guiding the belt oirthe supporting member. I TIhe conveyer belt and supporting member according to this invention 'is of considerably less width than the width of the sheets to be conveyed so that, as the sheets of material travel along the support between it and: the travelling belt, the overhanging edges of the sheets tend to bend upwardly anddeform the portion of the sheets engaged between the belt and'the channel and thereby maintainbontinuous engagement with the belt. -I have "found that this deformation is quite suflicient to maintain the material in proper contact with-the belt." I Also by using the narrower type of conveyer channel or support I have been ableto produce a simpler and less expensive form'of conveyer. i

one form of my invention I provide guide means tor the conveyer belt by forming the bacl: surface of the belt to embody an undulation which ayhem heic m o a w a r As s member in theform of a bar or channel member is arranged tq engage theundulated port ion;of the belt. l Thejengagingportion may -be continu+ ous;along the .beltvor may engage the belt at spaced points therealong. M

nother form of the invention'employs a belt having an undulation in the surface thereo f. in engagement with the support and has a ridge or a groove formed in'the supportfcforengaging the undulated portion of the belttoproperly retain the same on the support as itftravelstherealong.

Anotherobject or 'my invention theretore is to provide a drag conveyer employing a conveyer channel or support of substantially the same widthas-thebelt. Stillanother object is to provides, drag conveyer having a belt travelling upon a support with means for guiding the belt and maintaining the same in proper transporting relation with'ithe support. I l A still further object of my invention is to pro was a. conveyor belt embodying undulations on thelsurface and mean's in engagement" with the undulation scfor guiding the belt as ittravels These and other objects of my invention will appear from the following description andclaims taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which: a i Fig, 1 is a fragmentary viewof one form of my invention showing a grooveinthe back of the conveyer belt with the guiding member engaging the groove; v r

Fig. 2 isa view of the same iorm as Fig .fl 'with means added to definitely bend downwardly the overhanging edgesof the messages; I Fig. .3 a view of another form inlwhich the guiding memberspansfthe conveyer belt and en gagesflthe outeredges thereof;

Fig.4 is a View of another-form inwhich ridgeis iormedon the back of the conveyer belt for guidingthe same; f

V Fig. 5 is a; view f still a o r f m, ifiw c the conveyersuppbrt is;of lesswidth than the belt withfthe overhanging edges of thebelt arranged to guide the same on the support} Fig. 6 is a view of a form' in which the belt has a 'gro'oveformedin the-face thereof which-enwhich sections of the bead are cut away so that the same will act as clear outs.

Referring now to the drawing, the form of the invention shown in Fig. 1 embodies a longitudinally extending supportingmemberill and a conveyer belt 12 arranged to travel on the supporting member. An undulation 13in the form of a groove is embodied in the upper or back surface of the belt. A stationary slide or guide member 14, suitably spaced from the support to permit the belt to be raised by the material'being conveyed, fits into the groove 13 so that as the belt travels along the support it will be maintained in a substantially central relation to the latter. Theslide or guidemember 14 may comprise a continuous strip or a sufficient number of members substantially as shown spaced longitudinally along the conveyer.

The'conveyer is arranged to admit sheet material such as telegram blanks, messages and the like, between-the support andthe traveling belt. A fragmentary section of a message 15 is shown as being transported along the conveyer. As can be readily seen, the message blankis considerably wider than the conveyer support or channel member 11 and the belt 12. The message blanks are insertedinto the conveyer so that they are engaged by the conveyer substantially along their central portion. In this manner the edges of the message blanks "overhang the conveyer support and the weight of the overhanging portions of the blanks tend to bend the outer edges down and bend upwardly ordeform the portion of the message lyingacross the conveyer support. The deformation in the massage blank will cause the central portion thereof to tend torise and maintain itself in engagement withthe belt 12 as it travels along the support, even though the belt may not remain firmly in contact with all parts of the channel as it travels over any, uneven portions which may occur in the channel, I

It should be noted that the channel member in this embodiment,and those illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5 as well. are plain flat strips, an extremely simple form, and that the special belt shapes are readily procurable. I

In addition toth'e foregoing, ithas been found that when the sides or the lateral portions of a relatively narrow type of conveyer Support or channel are fiat, or in other words, extend'in opposite directions inthe same plane, the efiective ness of thetendency of the message to spring up in its midportions, due to the weight of the overhanging'edge portions ofthe message, is greater thanwhen the sides are bent upwardly or downwardly and extend an appreciable amountbeyond the edge of the belt. v

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, theconveyer support 11,,the. belt 12, and the guide member 14, are substantiallyof the same form as shown in Fig. l. Bars 16 and 17 have been added to this embodiment and arranged to engage the overhanging portion of the messages and defi nitely en t e me. qw war l at h sd e 9 1 .9

veyer support. This arrangement is especially advantageous when a section of the conveyer is arranged to carry messages upwardly or downwardly in a vertical direction. In this manner the conveyer will function substantially the same as when messages are transported in a horizontal direction.

-Theembodiment shown in Fig. 3 employs the same type of conveyer support 11 as the foregoing embodiments. However, ,a plane belt 18 is employed and lateral guide means for the belt is provided by a yoke member 19 which spans the entire width of the belt and engages the outer edges'thereof. The yoke member 19 may be a continuous channel member or several of such members may be employed at suitable spaced points along the conveyer belt to hold the same in proper relation to the support 12. The member 19when in the form of a continuous channel may be made in any desired shape which will loosely engage the outer edges of the belt and at the same time provide clearance for the back of the belt to allow the same to ride over an increased thickness of material being conveyed, such as when a bunch of messages or an envelope is fed into-theconveyer.

Fig. 4 illustrates another embodiment employing a flatsupporting member 11. With this embodiment, however, the belt 20 instead of being provided with a groove in its back surface in which a guide member slides, is provided with a ridge or tongue 21. A guide membe'r 22 in the form of a channel embodying a groove is arranged to engage the tongue at the back of the belt to maintain the same on the support. The guide member 22 may be supported at points along its length by suitable structural members 23. A suitable clearance is provided between the tongue 21 and the guide member 22 to allow free movement of the belt as-it travels along the support and also to permit the belt to ride over several thicknesses of material being conveyed. In other respects the embodiment of Fig. 4 functions substantially the same as the embodiment in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 illustrates the invention embodied in still another form. In this embodiment the conveyer support member 24 is of relatively less width than the conveyer belt 25. In other words, the conveyer belt when'positioned centrally over the support will ride with its edges overhanging the sides of the support. The edges of the conveyer belt are provided with thickened portions or beads 26 on its under surface. These bead portions serve a double function, one of which is to definitely bend the'overhanging portions of the message blank 15 downward to cause the midportion to'more effectively engage the belt. Secondly, the beads 26 serve to form guide members for the belt and maintain'the same on the support as it travels.

Still another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 6. In this form the guide member instead of being a separate element engaging the back surface ofthe belt as in some of the foregoing embodiments, is provided directly .on the conveyer support. A support member 2'7 has a bead or tongue portion 28 extending longitudinally of the center thereof. The conveyer belt 29 has a recess or groove 30 extending longitudinally of the underneath surface and arranged-to fit over the bead 28 of the support member. In this embodiment, the message blanks 15 will bev fed into the conveyer so that they are engaged between the belt and the I support and lie across the head 28 which will cause themitofbepressed more or less into the 'groove 30:. In this manner; the groove 30 traveling over the"bead28 serves notvonly to guide the conveyer belt inthe support, butin addition serves to causcthe messages to' be more 'efiectively eneffective form of conveyer results."

gagedb'y'the belt due to aportion of the messnge'being pressedinto the grooveonthe engage ing 'sur'face of the belt. When thetendency of the messageto spring up" from the conveyer support due to the overhanging .edges thereofhas the abovementioned effect added thereto, the result'is that the message blanks are exceedingly well grippedby the conveyerbeltand a very Fig;- 1 illustrates the possibility of combining the forms illustrated in Fig. land-Fig. 6. The conveyer belt "arrangement of Fig. l'is merely superposed on the conveyer-of Fig. 6 which results in a double conveyer having two conveying channels, in other words, two separate means for transportir'ig the sheets of material. The first channel, as clearly appears in the drawing, comprisesthe supportmember 2'7. and the conveyer belt 29; the material n being carried along the support by frictional engagement with. the lower of thebelt. The secondchannel com-.

prises the conveyer belt-29 and conveyerbelt 12 which are'arranged'to travel'one upon theother in the same direction and preferably at the same speed. With this arrangement, the message blanks 15 may be fedinto the conveyer in any well known manner and maybe admitted from separate or independent sources and discharged, likewise, in two separate or independent receivers. i i

The arrangement illustrated in Fig. 8 may be considered the. inverse of the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 6. Tl'his'arrangementfembodies a conveyer channel 31 provided. along the central portion with the longitudinally extending groove 32 instead of abead'asin Fig. 6. Aconveyer belt .33 rides on the support with its side portions overlying the sides of the support. The centralportion of the belt embodies a. head or tongue 34 arrangedto fit in the? groove of the support. The tongue provides means for guiding. the belt asdt travels along the support and also means to deform message blanks such as blank 15 which are being conveyed along the support. The tendency for the message blank to straighten out will act to maintain the deformed portion more efiectively in engagement with the belt.

Fig. 9 illustrates a modified form of the embodiment or arrangement illustrated in Fig. 8. In this embodiment the bead or tongue 35, instead of being formed as the continuous projection on the bottom surface of the belt is cut away so as to leave only short lengths of the bead at intervals in the underside of the belt. When the bead sections or projections are properly spaced along the belt, they will serve not only to guide the belt as it travels along the channel but also as clear out elements which will clear out the channel or carry along any messages that may have a tendency to stick to. the channel. Messages which are fed into conveyer so as to be engaged by one of the clear out projections as they enter the conveyer will be deformed substantially in the same manner as they would be in the arrangement shown in Fig. 8. Messages which enter the conveyer in the space lying between the clear out strips will ordinarily remain straight at their CBILtl'fl'JPOI'tiOH and rest omtbevouter e'dges o! the channel member and: be carried theme-long by the engagementot the outer. portions or a traveling be1t.l should these messages tendto stick to the channel rthey -will be lcarried'along bythe clear out aprojectionwhm it reaches the sticking mes substantially ualreadyde scribed, 1 v From the foregoing description, it will he'observed that I have provided drag conveyer arrangements embodying channel members of "the simplest form and haveprovided means for guiding the belt and maintaining the same on'thc channel members. a Inadditioml have provided a drag conveyer arrangement of relatively less width than the width of the matlnrial to be conveyed and have arranged such conveyers to embody channel members and conveyer belts of substantially the same width, which results in a form of. conveyer which will. take'advantage 'of thetendency of sheet material being loonveyed with the sides thereof overhanging the conveyer channel to maintain the central portion of the message in efiective engagement with the conveyer belt. 1 4i It is to be understood thatwalthough I have described my invention as being embodied in'drag conveyers that it may be embodied in other types of conveyors. 1 a 1' 'Whilel'. havexshown my:'invention in but nine forma it will be obvioustothoseskilleddn the art that it isnot so limited'but is susceptible to various other changes and modifications without departing-from the spirit thereof, and I desire. therefore, that onlysuch'limitations shallbe placed thereon as are imposed by'theprior art or as are specifically set forth in; the appended claims.

WhatIclaimisz: l I a l. A drag conveyer embodyinglongitudinally extending supporting means-a conveyer vbelt adapted to travel on said supporting means, one surface of said belt embodying a transverse undulated portion extendinglongitudinallyof the belt, and continuous guide means engaging the undulated portion of the surface to maintain the belt in conveying position with respcctito thesupporting means as ittravels thereoznm l 2. In a. drag conveyer, a longitudinally extenda ing support, a, conveyer belt adaptedto travel along said support for conveying sheet material between it and the support by frictional engagement with the belt, the support and belt being of substantially the same widths and of materially less width than that of such sheet material whereby substantially all of the said sheet material not in engagement with said belt extends over the sides of said support, and guide means cooperating with the support for maintaining the belt in conveying relation to the support, said guide means and said belt embodying interfitting tongue and groove portions.

3. In a drag conveyer for conveying sheet material, a longitudinally extending support, a conveyer belt adapted to travel along said support for conveying the material by frictional engagement therewith, and guide means independent of the support for maintaining the belt in conveying relation to the support, said guide means and the back surface of said belt being provided with interfitting tongue and groove portions.

4. In a drag conveyer for conveying sheet material, a longitudinally extending support of relatively less width than the Width of the sheet material to be conveyed whereby the edges of the sheet material overhang the sides of the supportvas-iitzisrroonveyed thereon, auconveyerbelt adapted valto tr'aveh along: :said support for con. veying rthenmaterial sbyi frictionalv engagement therewith; .andwmeans independent? of the support ,arranged :to engagesthe belt. along the -por.-. tion thereof in contact-with the-support'for maintaining :theebelt ini iconveying relation therewith, and means also independent of the supporttfor engaging the, overhanging ledge portionszof; the sheet.,material.to maintain the-same: in-nonpl'aniformjshape :as .:it;itravels valong'the; support. 5; 1116a :convey'er .-.for.-conveying sheet ;material,

aiconveyer :vbeltof less width than: the ,w-idth'of the xisheet: material;ailong-itudinally extending supp.ort1:-'-fori- :the:be1t;- of substantially .the' same width' assthe b'elt, said belt embodying an .un''- dulated portionin the support. engaging surface thereof, z saidvsupport ajembodying marginal .por: tions which the? sheet .material= f overhangs: said marginal :portionsz' being disposed. :in i the 1 same plane and extending in opposite directions,said support being arranged-to cooperate. withrzthe undulated' portionofthebelt; to form. a guide: for the belt? as it :travels'on the .suppqrtnz: 2 21 v9-6. In a: drag conveyer for conveying sheet material;sailongitudinally extending. support, 'a' con veyer belt adapted to travel along said support for conveying sheet material between ..the: belt and the I support .1 by"; frictional engagement with the belt, and cooperating guide means embodied in therl'support' 'and the 'belt serving-to -maintain theibelt in 'conveying.'-relation. to :the support, and also: to maintainsheet material innon-planiform shape-as it travels .along the support, said guide means eomprisingi i'nterfitting tongue and groove portionsnone'iof said portions being embodied in the support and the other in the belt. vJ

'7. In a drag conveyer for conv'eyingsheet 'material? a; longitudinally extending support, a conveyer "belt adapted to' travel a'long said support for'conveyingsheet material between the belt and the support :by frictional engagement with the belt," and cooperatingrguideineans embodied in the supportandthe b'eltserv'ing to maintain the belt in conveying relation to the support, and also to maintain e-sheetj material :in nonplaniform shape as it travels along the support; saidguide' means. comprising a discontinuous tongue portion interfitti'ng: with a grooved portion, one of said mousse portions being embodied in the-support andthe other in the-belt. I

along ssaid support for conveying sheetimaterial by-,frictional; engagement therewith; said :supportbeingof relatively less width than the, sheets of-materia'l to be conveyed and embodyingmarginalportions lying in .the same plane and extending'in opposite directions, and separategguide means for'maintaining the beltin conveying .re-. lation-with; the support, saidgguide means comprising members "disposed to engage the: opposite edgesof-the active portion of the belt and arranged to permitthe sheet material to extend beyond the edges of the belt between ,the'guide means-and-the support as the material: travels along the support. J

A drag conveyerfor'sheet/material; such as telegram blanks, comprising a stationary longitudinally extending support, a-beltadaptedto travelalong said support in contact therewith for conveying sheet material between the belt and support by frictional engagement 3 thereofwith the belt, said belt being of a width materiallyxless than that of the'sheet material and saidsupport being Ofl a.-width substantiallyequal to the width of the belt whereby substantially all'of said sheet materialnot a-ctually'in'frictional contact with the belt'extends outwardly beyond the sides of said supportiand means extending longitudinally of saidbelt and said support -f0r'restricting lateral movement'ofthe belt relative to the support.

10. In a 'conveyerfor conveying sheet material; a: conveyer belt of substantially less width than the width of the sheet material, a longitudinally extending support for the belt of substantially the same width. as the belt-"said belt'embodying a portion ofiset from the 'plane of the suppo'rtengaging surface of the belt, 'said support embody ing-marginalp'ortions' over which substantially all-of the sheet material not in actual I engage= ment with the belt extends, said marginal" po'r'.- tions being disposedin the same plane and extending in'opposite directions and such support being arranged to cooperate with the oiTset portionof the belt to form a guide for the belt as it travels on the support. i

- BRUCE 'BEARDSLEY. 

